If Trees Could Talk…

This tour acts as a tool for preserving landscapes, not only in their physical shapes, but also as memories in our hearts and minds. It is a tool that understands trees as part of something bigger than nature; its understanding that they also have been part of history and have been witness of change and life through the decades. They carry stories and meaning that have been imprinted within them. Trees have been chosen in this urban transect to act as mediators of different topics that can be related to important issues that need to be discussed, and all come together because of a single element. The element of remembrance. The aim is to bring that remembrance into words through the use of historical and personal narratives since there are stories worth telling and ideas worth sharing.

As stories start coming to light, a narrative of struggle presents itself throughout all sites. It is a struggle mainly characterized by the injustice cast upon marginalized and segregated people, which is coming to light through the eyes of trees. By showing how all these trees have seen injustice, whether racial injustice or environmental injustice, they pose a new way of understanding the Emerald Necklace. It is not just an invigorating natural system that presents itself in the middle of the city, it is a series of sites that have come together to set forth different issues that require fixing. This need is not only one that pertains to the trees and their survival, it is a call to action about all the societal problems that have transcended that are yet to be rectified. This rectification is needed throughout all the sites and trees chosen in this tour, making it an intricately connected relational system of equity or lack thereof.

Even though there are several trees composing the transect they all relate to each other in one way or the other. In fact, the narratives that are created by looking at each tree, go far beyond just the tree. In fact, it looks at the surroundings characterized by the people, the setting, and the politics. Seemingly invisible stories are being uncovered, while taking all the factors mentioned above into account. The idea behind this is to look at the whole spectrum these stories pose. Therefore, acknowledging and understanding the strain that segregation and inequitable distribution of resources posed in these stories can help mend these past issues. They can act as guiding lights to make this city a better place for all its inhabitants, whether animate or inanimate.

Furthermore, these trees tell stories about racialized landscapes and about the way they have been witness of racial segregation. By being present during hard times and having witnessed racism, these trees know much more than what any history book can tell. They have been in direct contact with different situations and have history stuck in their DNA’s. Let’s imagine if we could be firsthand watchers of all those stories that we know, and of all the stories that we don’t know. If we learn to uncover those stories, we could start giving voice to the invisible and to the ones that didn’t have the chance to have their voice heard. Stories of racial displacement, racial inequity, immigration, etc. would come out and we would have a more complete picture of what really happened in the past. History is written by those in power, so uncovering the stories of the powerless would help us rethink history and understand it as a reciprocal landscape. Just as Jane Hutton mentions in episode 28 of the “Interstitial” podcast, “When you trace anything, it brings up everything.” Therefore, it can be seen that anything can be traced back down and result in a story that we might have not even thought about. This tour refers back to that idea and by tracing an element that one could think is just “a tree” we found that a lot can be uncovered. The trees included on the tour tell us a lot about where we come from and all that happened for us to be able to be here. The past and the present are interconnected by many elements, so if we take one element that has been alive throughout the past and in the present, we would be able to see that the same tree that has witnessed destruction, injustice and tragedy, has also seen the building of new landscapes, the creation of justice, and the arousal of joy throughout the years. In this way these trees would become Reciprocal Landscapes.

Moreover, trees are responsible for much more than what we credit them for. They are more often than not overlooked and underestimated. Not even because of the infinite potential they possess of environmental remediation, are they paid enough attention and given the space that they deserve. This is in fact that space and that change starts here. By shining light on them and revealing the intrinsically connected issues related to them and to the society that surrounds them. We as people can learn from them and grow to be a bit more knowledgeable not only about natural systems, but also about the social and environmental justice that a tree can symbolize. Trees deserve respect and admiration. In a way, they are the only ones with the answers that we tend to be looking for, and even though they can’t talk, if we pay close attention to them and really take a deep dive into more than what meets the eye, they can lead us into their wisdom. It can mean a lot more than what we think.

Lastly, with this tour we invite you to think beyond what meets the eye. We invite you to take a second look at trees and try to uncover their stories just as we have. Taking trees for granted i s a thing of the past for they have the answers to the future. We just need to be willing to look for them.

“Reciprocal Landscapes,” Interstitial (March 24, 2020), https://thinkbelt.org/shows/interstitial/reciprocal-landscapes-jane-hutton

Grace Drucker and Valentina Cantillana
Title: If Trees Could Talk…
Taking a closer look of the city of Boston and its history through the eyes of trees.

Keywords:

1. Segregation
2. Enviornmental Justice
3. Equity
4. Racism
5. History